Southern American inspired schnitzel using beef as if it were chicken

Chicken Fried Steak is an American invention, thought to have come from early German and Austrian immigrants, consisting of a piece of tenderized beefsteak coated with seasoned flour and pan-fried like schnitzel.

A more evolved reference for this dish lies closer to its U.S. foundations, taking the breaded and fried technique commonly used when making ‘Southern Fried Chicken’ recipes, hence acquiring the name ‘Chicken Fried Steak’.

How to Eat Chicken Fried Steak

Normally it is served with a creamy white gravy made from milk, flour and the pan juices leftover from cooking the steak. However, in this recipe a hot sauce infused aioli served alongside a large wedge of lemon for drenching gives an alternate fresh and spicy kick.

Chicken Fried Steak with Hot Sauce Aioli

Print Recipe

Chicken Fried Steak is an American invention, similar to a schnitzel, but using tenderized beefsteak coated with seasoned flour. Normally served with a milk-based white sauce, in this version it is eaten with a hot sauce aioli and fresh lemon wedges.

Author: Flaevor
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Chicken Fried Steak

4 beef steaks
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1/2 tsp black pepper
200ml buttermilk
2 eggs
Vegetable Oil for deep frying
Sea salt flakes

Hot Sauce Aioli

300ml mayonnaise
1/2 garlic clove, minced
1 – 2 Tbsp hot sauce (depending on how hot you like it)
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp smoked paprika

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Instructions

Combine aioli ingredients, whisk together and place in the fridge until ready to use.
In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and baking powder.
In a separate shallow bowl, whisk together buttermilk and eggs.
Use a meat mallet to tenderize steaks until thin but not so thin the skin starts to break.
Dredge each steak in the flour mixture, shaking off excess, then dredge in the buttermilk-egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge once again in the flour mixture, shaking off excess.
Heat 1cm vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Test the oil by dropping in a little dredging flour, when the oil sizzles and bubbles it is ready.
Depending on how thing your steaks are, fry for 1 – 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Flip steaks once only.
Remove steaks from pan and drain on a wire rack. Sprinkle with additional sea salt. Transfer to an oven set at 100 degrees celcious to keep warm whilst cooking the remaining steaks.
When ready, serve each steak with aioli and fresh lemon wedges.

Keywords: chicken fried steak, beef schnitzel, hot sauce aioli, spicy aioli

Swiss version here